Rocketry: The Nambi Effect

"O Rama, son of Kausalya"

"The sun is about to rise in the eastern skies"

"Please wake up in our hearts anew"

"So we can perform our daily duties due as divine rituals unto You"

"Wake up within us, o' Govinda One whose flag has an emblem of Garuda"

"Cast aside your sleep to bestow Your Grace and solace as the universal force"

"O' Lord of the universe One with lotus shaped eyes"

"Lord's body blended from midnight blue to His consort Lakshmi's vermillion hue"

"Lord of the Venkatam hills will forgive our trespasses"

"Praise be to the Lord of Venkata Mountain"

"He who is the Lord of all Gods 4 faces, 6 faces and 5 faces as avatars"

"You are the crown jewel Protector and Savior of all"

"O' Lord, attached immensely by bonds of love of your devotee"

"With your Grace and Divinity I beseech you to protect me"

We should learn how to be responsible only from you, ma!

I am expected to be a good mother, great wife and dutiful daughter-in-law

But none of you will lift your little finger for me

3 hours since I woke up No time for even a sip of water

One of you could have offered me coffee, right?

Subtle hint from your mother you should've got coffee from home!

My dear Einstein husband, I got that

Amma, you know how much I missed your lamenting sessions

Divert your anger on my sari and burn a big hole

I'll have a good excuse then not to turn up for the wedding today

Give me your hand

- Show me your bangles - Amma!

I'll pickle you to pieces

I'm so patient only because my son-in-law is here

I've promised the bride's family 100% attendance from our side

If you ditch me today, that's it

I won't give a damn for our family dignity and dance like a woman possessed, mind you!

- You never know, she may do it - Amma, please

I'll leave immediately after my lecture

- Promise - Wait at the college bus stop

I'll pick you up at 12 We must be home by 2:00 p.m

'Or else our imp of a daughter will bring the roof down'

Sir...?

My dear son....tea!

Do you have an iota of responsibility?

Try to be part of this family at least once

This is one of our close relative's wedding At least be punctual for the wedding feast!

Every single member here expects a special invitation

Isn't it ages since we attended any function as a family together?

My relatives have forgotten the very fact I am married

As if he remembers he is married either!

He is busy night and day romancing with his rockets

Fine, I am destined to be wedded to a scientist

My children are a few notches worse

Why did you leave out your son-in-law?

Sometimes I wonder if he is a rocket scientist or an astrologer!

He shifts your granddaughter from our bed and sleeps with this almanac instead of me-

'Finished your prayers?'

Does it mean whoever works in NASA isn't bothered about our nation?

If you were at NASA, by now we would be

...living in the lap of luxury, bungalow, fancy car, beefy body guar-

Who is saying 'no'?

Your Elizabeth is still the headhunter at NASA!

Just nod your head we can leave tomorrow

I didn't mean it like that

Okay, forget all these creature comforts

We have to attend a family wedding today

Can't you fulfil my desire at least 1 day?

Is that so? What kind of desire?

Tell me clearly what desires you want me to fulfil?

- Go on - Geetha

Bring back your imp's cradle here

- Why? - I think it may come in handy!

Shankar, I'll spank you

Hey! You are saying I can still launch rockets from home?

Go ahead, but those rockets will only be firing blanks!

Shame on all of you, yuck!

I'm going to the temple

Don't jinx it! How many times I've told you to say 'I will be back'?

Today is an important day for you, right?

Take care See you soon

I'm going only to the temple nearby You think I'm off to Mars or what?

Mars is sure to have less pot holes than the roads in Trivandrum!

Uncle, today I intend seeing the KVD-1 engines assembly

Arun, haven't I told you it's inauspicious to call a person when he is stepping out?

That too, a special day for him

'Bless Nambi Narayanan and his family'

'Navakeralam'

'Nambi Narayanan sold the secret of rocket for millions'

Hey Geetha!

'Ten'

'Nine'

'Eight'

'Seven'

'Six'

'Five'

'Four'

'Three'

'Two'

'One'

'India on its very 1st mission to Mars put into orbit a satellite'

'With a price tag less than it costs to make a Sci-Fi movie in Hollywood'

'Credit to a large extent for this recent spectacular achievement'

'...goes to ex-ISRO scientist'

'Mr Nambi Narayanan'

'This special interview is anchored by none other than'

'Star extraordinaire of Tamil cinema True to his name, shining like the sun'

'Our most favorite hero Mr Suriya'

Why the hell shoot on a Friday night when I would rather be partying?

Looking at this 'fossil', I can forget returning to Chennai tonight

Hey!

Large or small?

Even before the show?

You saw that fogey's beaming face? We will still be here when the sun rises!

Aiyo! Make it a large then

'I was planning to show off in front of my friends'

'Looks like he won't let me attend my reunion'

'I will sneak in and pretend to touch up Suriya sir's face'

'Quickly click a snap without anyone's knowledge'

'What the hell are you doing, guys?'

'I had to beg and beseech'

'To get Suriya from his shoot in Trivandrum, for this interview'

'If you ask him for a selfie'

...making an ass of yourself and humiliating me, I'll trample you

'Try to finish the shoot and send him back to his shoot at the earliest'

Can we begin?

Sir

2 seconds

Quickly

Over

Sorry?

Your 2 seconds are over

Sorry, sir

You will know the value of a second much more than any of us

We'll start immediately

Keep the tight close only on Suriya sir

The arrangements are excellent I hope all this is worth the effort

'This old man is torturing us'

Sorry, sir Sorry...sorry

'Please, sir Sorry...sorry'

Forgive me for asking, sir

If you think this interview is such a futile exercise

Why should we do this?

Why did you come here?

Why did I come?

No one else in our country should go through what I had to endure

The people responsible for this crime should be brought to justice

This country may have given up on the likes of me

'But we cannot be like that, Mr Suriya'

Because I still believe in the goodness of our people

And the integrity of this nation

That's why I'm here

We share the same faith and trust in you

Our immense respect for you has brought us here tonight

Roll it...roll it

Your guru

Your mentor

I've heard of Vikram Sarabhai's unshakable faith in you and your work

So can we start this interview from your interaction with him?

Wow!

Not reducing my entire life to that spy case and scandal

Thank you for doing the due diligence on me

'You are right'

Vikram Sarabhai

He was more than a mentor He was like a father to me

And as his spoilt, adamant son I used to enjoy going wild in ISRO

Hey quiet!

Nambi, please

Coming 1 day before the test and claim the experiment isn't working is foolishness

If this can ignite here, for sure it will ignite in the upper atmosphere also

Kalam, nothing will change just by you staring at it

Let's call it off

'Call it off?'

Is this some dance drama?

Start and stop according to our whims and fancies

6 nations are jointly observing us

Some American scientist said something

You concur and now chew my brains on it?

Just reset it

Pump

Little more mixture please

Carbon connectors

Great! Thank you

Ignite

Five

'Four'

'Three'

'Two'

'One'

Kalaam!

Look! It worked

It didn't work, sir

The vacuum valve was closed

Normal atmospheric pressure inside the bell jar

Increase the volume!

- Your nose is bleeding - Hey!

Give me a heads up so I don't suffer a heart attack!

So 'Deepavali', the festival of lights in our office once more, eh?

Sir, this morning will be special with the kind words he blessed us with

Nambi, you seem to have had your usual breakfast of 'pongal' and 'vada'

With an extra dose of temerity today?

Sir, you are only paying for the brilliance

Temerity comes free!

I know that only too well

As long as you are here there's no shortage of temerity!

But if you had shown even a glimpse of brilliance